Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Lemon Delight

Until just a couple of years ago I'd never tried lemon curd. It was the name. Curd. It sounds like curdled. As in gone bad and chunky, something you pour down the drain, holding your nose as it glop-glops into the sink.

My first taste of the stuff was at a fancy, schmancy tea. I'd paid $14 for this tea and wasn't going to let a single morsel go untasted, name or not. My first bite of a scone dabbed with lemon curd and I saw the error of my ways. It was fabulous! Nothing moldy, rancid or undesirable about it. Except the name. So I renamed it - Lemon Delight.


The other day at Trader Joe's a jar of lemon delight caught my eye and then boldly jumped into my cart. Then in my kitchen it glanced meaningfully at a boxed white cake mix my 5 year old son had brought up from the pantry. (Yes, I keep some on hand, but don't tell. I'll never admit it!) I've been neglecting my baking lately because there's so much wedding prep to do. Plus I'm supposed to be cleaning up the kitchen, not making more messes.



Then the jar of lemon delight gently reminded me that part of cleaning is clearing out the fridge of stuff that needs to go. Like that carton of whipping cream. Hmmmm.

I made the cupcakes then dug divots out of the top when they were cooled. I drizzled lemon delight inside, and replaced the plugs, pressing down just a bit to force the lemon delight into the cake. I whipped up the cream (1 cuppish?) then folded in lemon delight and used that to frost the cupcakes. Because the mix made 24 cupcakes I quickly took many of them to neighbors and the ones left didn't linger for long. They were quite delectable.

If you want to try these, you can make your lemon delight and white cake from scratch, you can find plenty of recipes on the internet. And if you want to make it my way, I won't tell. Either way, share and enjoy.



This will be my last post till after the wedding. Too much to do! Hopefully I'll have two brain cells to rub together afterwards and can post some pics of the big day.

32 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

I've never tried lemon curd, but I love lemon; and those cupcakes look quite refreshing!!

Good luck with all of the wedding preparations - don't get too stressed, and enjoy the event!! :0)

LyB said...

You're absolutely right, Lemon Delight is such a nicer name than lemon curd. Those cupcakes look delicious, shortcuts are a good thing when you're busy! Have fun at the wedding, I'm looking forward to loads of pics! :)

Katherine Roberts Aucoin said...

I love lemon, especially during the summer. I am going to try these cupcakes. I have used lemon curd in a cheese cake and in lemon chicken.

ostwestwind said...

Because I'm fond of all British, I've tried lemon curd and it is devine! Lovely looking cupcakes

Ulrike from Küchenlatein

Jennywenny said...

Yes, its jolly good, and really easy to make too!

grace said...

the reason i don't like the word "curd" is because it rhymes with "turd." :) lemon delight is a much better title, and these are awesome cupcakes.

have a happy wedding time!

Anonymous said...

Nice and easy recipe, Lynn. I think these would suit tea time nicely. Shall we? We shall!
See you after the wedding then.
Hey everyone...pray for lovely weather for Sunday in Seattle!

eatme_delicious said...

Haha love that you renamed it lemon delight. Those cupcakes sound really good and I love that you put some lemon curd into the whipped cream. Enjoy your daughter's wedding!! :)

Peabody said...

Have a fantastic time at the wedding! Enjoy!

Gretchen Noelle said...

Hope everything goes splendidly with the wedding!

Lien said...

Looking very very good, I love lemon curd!
Have a great time at the wedding!!

Anonymous said...

Oh that looks amazing! I've been dreaming of lemon cupcakes since i had the most delish ones in New York.

Good luck and congratulations on the wedding, Lynn!

Anonymous said...

I agree. The word, curd, definitely has an icky connotation, but I just put my blinders on and enjoy this golden "delight."

Some folks refer to it as Lemon Butter, which also sounds better than curd.

At any rate, your mouthwatering photos made me forget all about the infamous word. Thank you.

Patricia Scarpin said...

Lynn, we can't find lemon curd in here (it's just not part of your food tradition and habits), so I made some a couple of weeks ago, to see what the fuss was all about. All I can say is that I got addicted to that stuff! :)
Your cupcakes look lovely and I'll be trying your recipe soon!

Sarah said...

I love all things lemon!! Have a great time with the wedding...lots of work but it will be fun, I am sure. Can't wait to hear about it!

RecipeGirl said...

Hey, doesn't everyone keep boxed cake mix in their pantry??? I guess not. Mine is there for emergencies, or even doctored up cake mix recipes.

The TJ lemon curd is pretty good.

Much luck with the wedding plans!

Sarah said...

Aww, have a lovely time, I'm sure it will be beautiful:)

Karen Baking Soda said...

Loverly bites! Yes, curd.. brr, delight is so much better, cause the stuff is real real good!
Wish you strength through the wedding preliminaries, have fun and take pics! Lots!

Aimée said...

Hooray! Wedding! You know I have been up to my neck in one recently. I do hope you post a few shots of the big day. Congratulations to your daughter!

Brilynn said...

I only recently tried lemon curd as well, when I made it myself! I think it was definitely the name that turned me off before then.

Anonymous said...

Lovely, lovely photographs, as always!
I hope the wedding goes smoothly! Enjoy!

Deborah said...

I'm a huge fan of lemon curd - I mean lemon delight. These sound like something I would love!

Hope the wedding goes well!

Eva said...

I love lemon curd - but I love curd, too! I've recently discovered how to make curd at home and will be posting lots of recipes using curd - maybe I'll be able to convince you to give it a try..;-)

Have fun at the wedding! Looking forward to hearing about it!

WokandSpoon said...

I've never tried lemon curd before - and yes, it's the name that has put me off. These cupcakes look gorgeous!!

Helene said...

If I could find a way to IV lemon c... to my veins, I would!!
Enjoy the wedding and everything around it!

Big Boys Oven said...

a true delight indeed!

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

I love lemon curd (aka delight) on my strawberry shortcake too:D

Anonymous said...

The wedding was lovely. You were adorable in your dress. I just loved it. So cute. Congratulations on surviving and having all of the business at your house. Quite a challenge and it was pulled off so nicely. :)

Oh, and the lemonade was fabulous! I took a sip and exclaimed to Jonathan, "It's that lemonade on Lynn's blog!"

**doffs her cap and vanishes**

Heather said...

ahh, i remember the dwindling days before my wedding :) They flew quickly! Good luck and remember to sit down and enjoy it!
Lemon delight sounds delicious! I love curds of all sorts... but delights instead?! Even better :) And sometimes, homemade by Betty Crocker is just right ;)

Glenna said...

Oh MY GAWD! I love lemon curd and yours sounds absolutely divine!

kellypea said...

Don't you just love Trader's Joes? These cupcakes sound yummy! Lemon curd is a favorite.

Anonymous said...

Another recipe using Lemon Delight which I tried and was fabulous, for the tea lovers among us.
http://www.bhg.com/recipes/recipedetail.jsp?recipeId=R071575